Keir Starmer: ‘Don’t trust those who make the mess to clear it up’

Below is the full text of Labour leader Keir Starmer’s introduction to a new Labour campaigning document, shared with MPs and prospective parliamentary candidates ahead of the next general election.

I grew up working class. I’ve been fighting all my life. I will fight for working people. And I will fight to restore hope and pride in our great country.

Britain’s got the talent, the entrepreneurs, the world-beating scientists and the dedicated volunteers serving their communities. We’ve got millions of hard-working British citizens who fight against the odds each day.

But the one thing we don’t have is a government that rolls up its sleeves and gets to work alongside people to solve the country’s problems. The Tories have knocked the confidence of the country, drained the well of optimism, tried to stop people believing change is possible.

But I know with every fibre of my being that Britain can be better than this. And from now until the election, whenever it comes, I will be working with people up and down the country to show how the plans in this document can be turned into a reality for our communities.

The Tories can’t solve Britain’s problems – they caused them

In place of division and decline, we need to give people the hope that comes from a long-term plan, with Britain moving forward again and the country tilted back towards working people.

Enough is enough, it’s time for change. People are suffering – from the highest taxes in 70 years, mortgages costing them £240 extra a month, NHS waiting lists at nearly eight million, crumbling school buildings, rivers running with raw sewage.

Working people are thousands of pounds worse off from tax rises and soaring energy bills despite Tory claims to be cutting them.

Nothing seems to work in Britain. And that’s why it’s time for a change. One thing is certain, those who made the mess are never the right people to clear it up. So the Tories cannot be the answer to Britain’s problems when they are the cause of them.

Labour is unrecognisable from the party that lost in 2019

The Tories have failed. It’s not just the chaos they have created, it’s something bigger: it’s their attitude.

At a time of huge insecurity, they believe in a ‘stand aside’ state, not one that backs working people. They don’t get people’s lives, what they are going through now, what their potential might be. They govern to serve their own interests, rather than to lift up the country.

With people losing faith in the Tories, the responsibility will fall to the Labour Party to show people how we have changed and what we now offer. I’ve changed the Labour Party. We are back in service of working people.

Let me be frank. The Labour Party is unrecognisable from the one that lost the 2019 election. The shake-up we gave our party had one purpose: to ensure that we are once again rooted in the priorities, the concerns and the dreams of ordinary British people. To put country before party.

And, let me be clear, there will be no going back. It’s why I am uncompromising on national security, standing up for our armed forces and controlling our borders.

Labour’s five missions are a long-term plan to change this country

Front and centre of everything we do will be economic stability so that families and businesses can plan ahead with certainty. That’s why every one of our commitments are fully costed and fully funded. We have no unfunded spending plans.

A government I lead will always live within our means. Where we will as a government invest, we explain where every penny comes from.

It’s on that platform that we will be able to seize the opportunities of advances in AI, digital, life sciences and technology as drivers of economic growth. And because I have changed the Labour Party to be back in service of working people, I believe we can be trusted to change the country.

What it will take is a decade of national renewal. Each of those words is important. Decade because this is a long-term project. The problems Britain faces are deep and will need time to properly sort – but we will make a start immediately if elected. National means it will require the contribution of everyone, in all parts of the country, coming together in a common purpose. Renewal means we have to break through the tired old ways of doing things and make the changes that have been put off for too long.

I’m a man on a mission. Five long-term missions to end ‘sticking plaster’ politics. To achieve this, I have set out five long-term missions to end ‘sticking plaster’ politics – a long-term plan to change this country.

We will turn an age of insecurity into an age of possibility

We call it mission government because it’s about setting ambitious goals and then building a strong strategic partnership to bring the country together to get them done. It will require a different set of values, the cleaning up of politics and restoring an ethic of service, integrity and respect. The hope of change and renewal allied to the responsibility of service.

I warn people, some of the decisions we will have to take will not be easy. I have reformed a public service before – the Crown Prosecution Service. I know how hard it is. I made changes that meant more criminal gangs were put behind bars and that victims of crime were given a bigger say.

So, if we have to change the planning laws to get the economy moving and create more jobs, then we will. And if we need to create a publicly-owned clean energy company, Great British Energy, in order to get bills down and give us independence from tyrants like Putin, then we must do the hard yards to make that happen.

That way, we will turn an age of insecurity into an age of possibility and start to rebuild our pride and confidence as a nation.

How people voted in recent elections doesn’t matter to me. What matters is that we heal the wounds of the last few years and come together for the sake of our country. That we all get behind change, real change, to get this proud nation off its knees and get Britain’s future back.